


everything for my sister

by popnographic



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Gen, Sibling Bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-12
Updated: 2016-12-12
Packaged: 2018-09-08 02:20:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8826580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/popnographic/pseuds/popnographic
Summary: Rin knows his sister better than anyone else, and it doesn't matter how good her poker face is, because he'll always see right through it.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I've always wanted to write something with just the Matsuoka siblings, focusing on their relationship. So here it is, at last. Better late than never?

Either he’s got the best timing in the world, or it’s the complete opposite, but when Rin calls his sister, he can tell something’s wrong. At the same time, he can tell Gou is trying to act like it _isn’t_. But this is how she works; this is how it’s always been, ever since their early childhood days. And of _course_ it’s something Rin has learnt to see right through—dare he say he might even be _good_ at reading his sister at this point.

Gou is dressed in an oversized t-shirt and sweatpants when she opens the door, she’s already washed off her makeup, and she’s got her hair up in a messy bun. And it’s just around dinnertime. It doesn’t matter if she tells it to him straight; Rin can tell when something isn’t quite right with his sister, and these signs are blaringly obvious.

“How was work?” Gou asks as they sit down in the living room. Rin curses himself for not being fast enough to start off their conversation.

“Pretty boring; nothing interesting happened. I mostly stayed in the office and did a bunch of paperwork. How was _your_ day?”

Gou shrugs. “It was… well, it could’ve been better. Work was okay.”

“And…?”

And then she sighs. And then Rin notices the very slight tremble in her lower lip before she bites down on it for a second, probably to make it stop. “Sousuke and I broke up.”

“You did _what_?!”

Rin really can’t stop himself from raising his voice in a sudden fit of anger, as well as shock. Sousuke and Gou have been dating for _ages_ ; Rin thought they’d even make it so far as to getting married and having kids. And that had been difficult to admit at some point, because back then he’d still been an overprotective brother who only wanted the best for his sister, but even the best wasn’t good enough.

Then he got to actually accepting the fact that his best friend was dating his little sister, and as time went on, he saw how much Sousuke cared for and loved Gou. So really, maybe Sousuke _was_ the best for her. Which is why it angers and confuses him so much that they’d break up.

Gou shakes her head. “It’s fine. I mean, he was the one who broke up with me, but… I think I agree with him that it’s for the best.”

“ _Sousuke dumped you?_ ”

“Rin,” Gou says. “You don’t have to yell.”

He clears his throat, takes a deep breath, and starts over. Rin has always had a short fuse, but thankfully he always burns himself out quickly.

“Sorry,” he mutters. “But what do you mean you agree?”

“It was meant to happen sooner or later. We’re just growing apart, I guess; he wants to settle, I don’t. He wants to have kids, I don’t. And even if he told me he could live with not having kids or not getting married, I’d tell him I don’t want that for him. I don’t want him to settle for the next best thing.”

Rin frowns in concern when Gou’s tears finally start falling. It breaks his heart to see her like this. “You’re not the next best thing.”

“In this case, yes—I am. The best person Sousuke can be with is someone who _wants_ to settle down, get married, and have kids. That’s not me.”

“But… are you really okay with this? Aren’t you… aren’t you sad that it’s over?”

Gou laughs miserably, and Rin scoots over to her side to taker her into his embrace. “Of course I am, but I’ll get over it someday. Like I said, this is for the best. And we’ll still be friends.”

Rin doesn’t have the heart to tell Gou that it isn’t always that easy to go back to being friends with someone you once were in a romantic relationship. Someone you’ve loved as more than a friend for a long time, someone you have so many memories with that aren’t linked to just friendship. Of course it could happen one day, but it might take a long time for them both to be comfortable hanging out as friends again.

And what if Sousuke _does_ find someone else, how will Gou take it if they’ve decided to be friends and act as such? Would she be able to do that even in a situation where Sousuke falls in love with someone else?

As much as Rin may want to be there to hold her hand, he knows Gou has done well on her own so far. And co-dependency is never a good thing. Sometimes you’ve just got to learn to stand to the sides, and support someone from a distance. Always be ready to give them support if they want it, but never push it onto them.

“Okay,” Rin says instead. “If you say so.”

Gou sighs again, and she nuzzles her head against Rin’s chest. “Thanks, though. I’m glad I’ve got you.”

“You always will, you know,” he says, putting a hand on her head.

“Yeah, I know.”

Rin lets silence fall for a bit, lets Gou collect herself and maybe think about things without him interrupting. Had this happened five years ago, Rin would’ve gone to kick Sousuke’s ass without a shred of hesitation. Hell, he’d almost been thinking about doing it until Gou said she agreed with Sousuke’s decision to end their relationship, if it had been a one-sided matter. He’d like to say that’s just the protective—or _overprotective?_ —older brother within him talking, but then he’d just be making excuses.

“You know what we need?” he says after a while. “Pizza, that's what. And I know you want ice cream, don’t you deny it.”

Gou hiccup-laughs. “Maybe I do.”

He sits Gou up so he can get off the couch, and he stretches his upper body with a yawn. “I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

“I’ll go with you.”

“No, it’s fine. It’s just down the road, anyway. While I’m gone, you can pick out any film you’d wanna watch.”

Gou raises an eyebrow. “Whichever I want?”

Rin knows that means he’ll probably have to watch a cheesy chick-flick, but he’ll endure it if it’s just one. He rolls his eyes. “Yes.”

 

* * *

 

 

He walks to the minimart to get them a pizza and ice cream from their favourite place just down the road from Gou’s apartment building. It’s a good thing Gou isn’t picky, and also not all that difficult to please. As long as she’s got a bottle of white wine and ice cream, she’ll be happy. They also have similar tastes in what to put on a pizza, and they both know what _doesn’t_ go on a pizza, so sharing one is never an issue.

Rin buys Gou’s favourite Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavour, a name he can never remember, but whenever he sees the description of what’s in it, he knows it’s the one. It’s basically got chocolate in all shapes, plus caramel. It might just be because Gou likes it, but it’s one of the few flavours of ice cream besides regular old vanilla that Rin can stand. Ironically, he doesn’t like plain chocolate flavoured ice cream.

The two siblings spend their evening eating pizza and ice cream, playing video games, and lastly falling asleep on the couch to a romantic film Rin didn’t make it even half an hour into. He wakes up sometime in the middle of the night noticing that Gou’s apparently gotten up to get them a blanket, but otherwise she’s still asleep right in front of him on the couch like she had been earlier. So Rin just smiles to himself, and falls back asleep.

… unfortunately, they both wake up with stiff neck muscles feeling sore all over. But Rin thinks it’s worth it, and he knows Gou feels the same.

They make breakfast together in relative silence. It’s still pretty early in the morning, so the town is still peaceful outside the kitchen window. Rin knows Gou feels a lot better because she’s humming to herself while making scrambled eggs, and it makes him happy, however trivial it may seem.

Rin leaves not too long after they’ve had breakfast and cleaned up what they left out the night before. Gou, however, doesn’t let him leave before wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace, which he more than gladly reciprocates.

“Thank you,” she says. “I’m really glad you came over last night. I needed that.”

“Hey, what are older brothers for?”

“Getting you pizza and ice cream when you’re feeling down?”

Rin laughs, and ruffles Gou’s hair. “Exactly.”

**Author's Note:**

> The ice cream Rin doesn't remember the name of is Ben & Jerry's _Sofa, So Good_. [Lethal, I tell ya](http://www.benjerry.co.uk/flavours/sofa-so-good-ice-cream).
> 
> \--
> 
> [tumblr](http://radiodread.tumblr.com)


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